Only Two Still Compete To Start Area Tv Station

July 16, 1986|by DANIEL WEISS, States News Service

Two more groups competing to establish Channel 60, a new commercial television station in Bethlehem, said Tuesday they have dropped out of the race, leaving only two of the five original parties to vie for the operating license.

Lawyers for Bethlehem Broadcasting of Center Square, Montgomery County, and William Kimble of New York told a Federal Communications Commission judge that their clients had agreed to withdraw their applications for the new UHF channel in exchange for money from Sonshine Family Television Inc.

Lehigh Valley Broadcasting and Communications, a recently established company, is the only remaining challenger to Sonshine, which produces several Christian and educational television programs in the Lehigh Valley and Scranton.

Details of the financial agreement among Sonshine, Bethlehem Broadcasting and Kimble will not be disclosed until it becomes final. One unanswered question is whether the two groups that dropped out would be paid even if Sonshine loses the battle to own the station, the lawyers said. The final agreement is expected later this week.

Bethlehem Broadcasting attorney Mark Fields said it is common for groups to settle for money after they realize they will not win the application and would lose too much in lawyers' fees to keep trying.

Another applicant, Ashford Communications of Scranton, earlier withdrew its application.

At the hearing Tuesday, Sonshine attorney Leonard Joyce attacked the credibility of Lehigh Valley Broadcasting owner William Sanders, a native of Philadelphia who is a probation officer in Atlanta, Ga. Joyce claimed that Sanders had no media experience and hence was unqualified to run a television station.

The FCC grants special status to firms run by minorities. Sanders, who is black, could benefit from that provision.

After more than 20 minutes of often seemingly irrelevant questioning by Joyce, the attorney showed two documents to Sanders and asked if he had signed them. Sanders said he had. Joyce then said that the two signatures were so different thatthey could not possibly have been signed by the same person.

FCC Judge Joseph P. Gonzalez, who will ultimately decide which, if any, applicant is qualified to construct and operate the station, agreed with Joyce.

"There does seem to be a significant difference between two of Mr. Sanders' signatures," Gonzalez said, opening the way for more than two hours of questioning designed to destroy his credibility as a qualified applicant.

Sanders gave vague answers, saying "I don't remember," when asked about letters written as recently as July 6, 1986.

Though Gonzalez did not endorse Joyce's interrogation entirely, he said: "I did find it puzzling that the witness had such a poor memory about matters" which a serious applicant would likely remember.

Joyce went even further: "I respectfully submit that this witness (Sanders) has not been truthful with the commission in his testimony," he said.

If some of the documents were forged, which will be determined by a handwriting expert, Sanders' application could be dismissed, said an FCC trial lawyer.

Patricia Huber, president and program director of Sonshine, said if she wins, her station would produce "morally good" programming, consisting of Christian and family programs. The former Whitehall resident now lives in Walnutport.

Because the application process for a new television station is complex and drawn-out, a final decision is still several months away.